Street-indicating device.



PATENTED SEPT. 8, 190.3

T. W. SMALL. STREET INDIGATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7,1902.

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No. 738,366. r PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1903.-

v T. W. SMALL.

STREET IN'DIGATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION YILED JUNE 7,1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 8, 190a.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS \(V. SMALL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO PETER SMALL, OFCLEVELAND, OHIO.

STREET-INDICATING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,366, datedSeptember 8, 1903.

Application filed June 7,1902. Serial No. 110,590 (No model-l To allwhom, it nutty concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. SMALL, a citizen of the United States,residingat Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Street-IndicatingDevices,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide an efficient street-indicatorfor cars and similar uses.

My indicator is actuated electrically and may be very convenientlyconnected with any suitable contact-making device, which latter may, forexample, be carried by the trolley, thus causing the indicator to beautomatically operated.

My indicator includes a band having the different designations upon it,as the names of streets or stops, rollers for guiding the band, springarrangements for keeping the band taut, aclockwork for driving the band,and mechanism for releasing the clockwork as desired.

The invention comprises also the more particular embodiment of thesefeatures with an electromagnetic releasing device, as hereinafter morefully explained.

The drawings clearly illustrate my invention.

Figure l is a side elevation of theinvention with the front of thecasing removed. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of Fig. 1 on the line 2 2thereof looking toward the left. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of Fig. 1looking toward the right. Fig. 4 is a plan with the upper part of thecasing removed and one of the springbarrels broken away to show theinterior.

The frame of the indicator consists, as shown,of three cross-plates A,A,and Aiheld together by rods,of which four are shown,l3, B B and B. Onthese rods between the plates A and A are distance-sleeves 0. Carried bythe end platesA and A and with them forming a casing, is the top plateD, the front plate D and the bottom plate D which may all be a singleplate of metal. In the front plate is an opening carrying, pref- 30erably, a piece of glass D, through which the street-designations areobserved.

Mounted on the cross-plates A and A are three rollers, (designated E,E,and E These rollers are all geared together by the gears F, F and Fwhich they respectively carry. At the rear of these rollers are a pairof rollers'(designated G and G These rollers are also mounted in theframe-plates A and A and they are geared together by the gears H and Hbut are not geared with the rollers E, E and E The rollers G and G arespring-barrels,co nsisting, as shown in Fig. 4, of an outer tubularbarrel g, loosely surrounding a shaft 9 and connected therewith by ahelical spring 9 The springs in the two rollers G and G are wound in thesame direction, which, as shown in the drawings, gives these rollers atendency to turn in the left-hand direction. The shafts g of the rollersare rotatably mounted in the frame-plates A and A and carry the gears Hand H by which the rollers are connected. Thus if either of theserollers is rotated the other is driven thereby correspondingly, whileeach has an independout play, due to the spring connection of the barrelwith the shaft.

J represents the roll'of paper or other flexible material on which thestreet-designations or other signs are printed. This roll is secured atits ends to the two rollers G and G and passes off the upper sides ofthese rollers around the front of the outer rollers E and E and the backof the intermediate roller E The springs gf keeping the band taut at alltimes, it follows that if the roller E is rotated it will drive the bandJ in one direction or the other, causing it to play off of the roller Gor G as the case may be, and the rotation thereby given to that rollerwill be comm uni- 9o cated to its mate through the gearing H and H totake up the band at the other end. The spring connection between thebarrels of the rollers G and G and -their shafts maintains the striptaut at all times notwithstanding 5 the diminution in the effective sizeof one roller and the increase in the other, due to the winding off andon of the strip, respectively. Suitable rollers K, mounted on the rods BB", also serve to hold the paper snugly [00 on the rollers E E Now thedifferent designations to be exposed being printed on the strip J,(those shown in the drawings being stop 56, &c.,) if the roller E isgiven a sufficient rotation one designation is moved away from thesight-opening D and the next moved into desired.

The driving-roller E is rigid on its shaft e, by which it may be driven.This shaft eX- tends across from the plate A to the plate A. It issurrounded by a sleeve L, which is splined to it,but may be shifted onit to change the direction of rotation, as about to be explained.

On the sleeve L are rigidly mounted apair of gears (designated 1 and 1.)As shown in the drawings, the gear 1 meshes with an idle gear 2, whichmeshes with an idler 3, which in turn meshes with a gear 4, which isrigid with a pinion 5, which meshes with a gear 6, which carries a pawl7, engaging a ratchetwheel 8 around the shaft 9, on which is wound thespiral spring 11, one end being secured to the shaft and the other endto a stationary point, as 12. Thus the spring being wound up and allowedto unwind through this train of gearing drives the roller E in a givendirection.

If the sleeve L is drawn outward, as it may easily be from the outside,by the head 1, which it carries, the gear 1 is drawn out of mesh withthe idler2 and the gear 1 is drawn into mesh with the idler 2, whichmeshes with the gear 4 of the same size as the gear 4 and rigid with it.This connection simply eliminates one of the gears in the train betweenthe shaft e and the driving-gear 6 and causes the same movement of thegear 6 to drive the strip in the opposite direction.

In order to govern the release of the clockwork as desired, I provide ashaft 14, having rigid on it a pinion 15, meshing with the gear 4, and agear 16, engaging another pinion 17 on a shaft 18, which carries a fan19. On the shaft 18 is a lug 21, adapted to be engaged by a lug 22 on apivoted lever N, which con stitutes the armature for the electromagnetM. A spring P tends to draw the armature away from the magnet intoposition to cause the lug 22 to stand in the path of the lug 21, andthereby prevent the rotation of the shaft 18 and block the whole trainof gears. On the shaft 14 is a collar 23, recessed to receive a pin 24on the lever N. If, however, the periphery of the collar should engagethis pin 24, it would hold the lug 22 out of the path of the lug 21 andallow the rota-' tion of the train of gears. Now when it is desired tomove the band J to give a new designation the magnet M is simplyenergized. This raises the armature and draws the lug 22 out ofengagement'with the lug 21, releasing the train of gearing, whereuponthe latter drives the band in the direction predetermined by theposition of the sleeve L.

position behind the opening, as-

The energization of the magnet is of course of very short duration; butbefore the armature N can drop back into place the periphery of thecollar 23 has engaged the end surface of the pin 24 and holds thearmature up, with the lug 22 idle. The proportioning of the parts issuch that as the next indication on the strip J comes into view positiona recess on the collar 23 comes beneath the pin 24, allowing thearmature to descend and the pin 22 to come into position to stop theshaft 18 and thereby the whole train of gearing. The fan 19 is for thepurpose of rendering the rotation of the gearing comparatively regularand prevent it unduly racing when there is the greatest tension on thedrivingspring. The spring is wound up from outside the casing by asuitable key engaging the squared end of the shaft 9.

One winding of the spring may easily be sufficient to drive the band Jthroughout its entire length. Hence it is simply necessary for theconductor of the car to wind up the spring and shift the sleeve L at theend of each trip, this being no more work than setting-of thefare-register in common use. Any suitable means for closing the electriccircuit through the magnet M may be employed. The circuitcloser may be apush-button on the car, or it may be a device carried by the car andautomatically engaged at points along the track, as by suitable stopscarried by the trolley-wire.

I claim- 1. In an indicating device, the combination of a pair ofrollers, shafts therefor geared together, springs connecting the shaftswith the rollers, an indicating-band winding off one roller and onto theother, and an intermediate roller in engagement with which said bandpasses, said intermediate roller being independentof the gearing of therollers first mentioned, and means for rotating said intermediate rollerto drive the band, substantially as described.

2. In an indicating device, the combination of a pair of rollers, shaftstherefor geared together, springs connecting the shafts with therollers, an indicating-band winding off one roller and onto the other,and three other rollers, the band passing from the springrollers untothe forward side of the extreme two of said rollers and unto the rearside of the intermediate roller, a casing having a sight-openingadjacent to one of said extreme rollers, and means for rotating one ofsaid three rollers to drive the band, substantially as described. Intestimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

THOMAS W. SMALL. Witnesses:

ALBERT H. BATES, II. M. WISE.

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